Tag: St. Louis Cardinals

I've upped my game with franchise rankings and introduced some new technology to the process -- namely, Tableau. To see some other examples of me putting Tableau to good use, check out the Infographics section of my SportsPaper.info site.
Other than making things look snazzy, however, the methodology behind how I'm ranking all MLB franchises remains pretty much intact. So for those who don't know the rules, here they are again:
The Criteria
The categories and point values are as follows:
20 points for a World Series title. Pre-1903 titles are not counted.
15 points for a league pennant.
6 points for a playoff series win (e.g. Division Series or Wild Card Game).
4 points for a division title.
3 points for a regular season winning percentage of .556 or higher, -3 points for ...

Spring Training for the 2015 Major League Baseball season is upon us! So even if you're still sitting under a blanket of snow, you know that relief is on the way.
To help you get warmed up and to take an excuse to look at some great vintage sports ephemera, here's a hand-picked gallery slideshow of some of my favorite Spring Training program and scorecard art from teams like the Dodgers, Red Sox, Angels, and Pirates. All of these and more are available for perusal at The Press Room, and clicking on any image will take you to its own page.

The other day I shared a gallery of ALCS program covers for this year's teams, the Royals and Orioles. Now it's the National League's turn.
Including this season, the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals have combined for 20 NLCS appearances since the format was established in 1969 (including the 1987 season, when the two teams faced each other). The Cards hold the record for most NLCS appearances (13), while the Giants are now tied with the New York Mets with seven.
Here is a gallery of selected Giants and Cardinals NLCS game programs through the 1980s, courtesy the Press Room.
San Francisco Giants
St. Louis Cardinals

In my Worst Sports Cards Ever series, I look at the good, the bad and the ugly from the long and spotty history of sports trading cards.
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I can only imagine that few things sent trading card companies into a tizzy like an offseason trade. I'm sure the lead time needed to pull off a nice-looking card is pretty lengthy; especially so in the pre-digital days.
So what happens when a player switches teams and a company such as, say, Topps has to scramble at the 11th hour to reflect that change? You get a card like #151 from the Topps 1972 NFL set, for running back MacArthur Lane.
It seems likely that Topps was all ready to go in early 1972 with an image of Lane with his then-current team, the St. Louis Cardinals. But then he was traded to the Green Bay Packers in February of

You wanted the best, you got the best! The hottest baseball teams ever... OK, sorry about that. I have Kiss on the brain for some reason. Back to baseball.
Last week I published my first annual list of the ten worst franchises in Major League history, so if you haven't read that yet now's a good time. Either way, it's time to look at the teams that set the standard for all other baseball clubs to follow. Or that are, in the case of a few, still basking in past glories. To see my rankings for other leagues, as well as all mysports lists, check out this page.
Before I get to the list, a few notes of explanation are needed.
Rankings are based on average points per season, not total points.
For the few franchises whose history stretches back to the 19th century (Braves, Cardina

There's a lot to love about this Post Sugar Crisp ad from 1955, not the least of which are the classic '50s bear mascots:
But what drew my eye was the gaggle of vintage baseball logos on the bottom. They're actually MLB patches Post gave away with the cereal, and the legendary Ted Williams gives his smiling approval.
Here's a closeup view of the logos, featuring the Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Redlegs, New York Yankees, New York Giants, Milwaukee Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Senators/Nationals, Baltimore Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Indians, Brooklyn Dodgers, Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Chicago Cubs. That's every MLB franchise from '55 except for the Kansas City Athletics.
(click for a larger version)

I've got a special off-season edition of Football Friday for you today! I get daily email alerts from eBay for just about anything tagged as being from the AFL, which I use to find many of the excellent AFL game programs I share. But on occasion I find other neat things too. Take, for example, this set of vintage NFL/AFL team mascot decals from 1969. These are some fantastic stickers.

This is one of the cooler sports photo galleries I've put together for you. This is a combination of published and unpublished images for a Life magazine article on the NFL and the ascent of pro football as a spectator sport. It ran in their December 5, 1960 issue and was called "Fans Go Ga-Ga Over Pro Football."
The pictures in this gallery were taken by George Silk during the 1960 NFL season and seem to come from X main sources -- four New York Giants home games (against the Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Washington Redskins), a Giants film session, and a game between the Chicago Bears and Baltimore Colts (which I believe to be a home game for the Colts).
Included here is a photo of Eagles linebacker creaming the Giants' Frank Gifford. I don'...

Few professional sports in America enjoy the rich history that baseball does. While the other major sports -- football, basketball, hockey, and even auto racing -- are purely 20th century phenomenons, baseball traces its pro roots back to the 19th century.
Here are a handful of snapshots featuring pro base-ball clubs from the 19th to early 20th century. Click on any image for a much larger version.
Up first is this 1888 team portrait of the St. Louis Browns, members of the short-lived American Association (1882-1891). The Brown Stockings were pennant-winners of the AA from 1885 through 1888, and moved to the National League when the AA folded. They went through a few name changes before settling on St. Louis Cardinals.
This dapper bunch is the 1882 New York Metropolita